World Cup 2014: The real reason behind the flurry of goals and excitement in Brazil

Experts insist that the climate of Brazil is why the world has been treated to
goals galore at World Cup 2014 and that mistakes are down to muscle energy

Dejected: But England defender Gary Cahill and captain Steven Gerrard, seen here after the defeat by Uruguay, were not the fonly team to lose their next game after playing in ManausPhoto: ACTION IMAGES

Ignore the romantics. The flurry of goals at this Brazilian World Cup is likely to be less about teams embracing the spirit of jogo bonito, and more due to a simple lack of glycogen.

Local conditions shape tournaments and the heat and humidity in Brazil – particularly to the north of the country – is having its effect.

Players’ energy levels are dropping dramatically leading to more mistakes and more goals. Already 24 goals have been scored by substitutes, a tally which breaks the record of 23 scored by players coming off the bench set in the whole of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

At the same time the United States, on Thursday, became the fifth team to have lost their next game after playing in the oppressive conditions in the Amazonian capital of Manaus.

It cannot be a coincidence and questions must now be asked of whether some of these countries, England included, acclimatised properly.

“Football performance is altered in hot and humid conditions,” according to Michael Davison, a football medicine specialist and managing director of Isokinetic, a Fifa medical centre of excellence in the UK.

“It manifests itself differently in players based on their position in the team, their fitness level, their hydration status and their level of ‘heat stress’.

"The South American and ‘hot country’ teams are dominating the World Cup so far and it makes you feel that they have matched their tactics to the environmental conditions along with their confidence to play in these otherwise uncomfortable conditions.”

No European team has won a World Cup in South America and although some nations have struggled others are still providing a strong challenge with Germany, Holland and France all likely to make it through to the quarter-finals and beyond.

Crucially, Germany and Holland not only have a large number of younger players but many who are home-based. With their domestic leagues also having winter breaks, Davison argues that this is also a key factor.

“The heat and humidity will deplete players’ levels of glycogen – the energy stored in muscles – which leads to loss in concentration or the ability for defenders to get to the right place at the right time, such as marking their opponent in the penalty area,” he says.

“The European players – other than the domestic-based Germans and French, who had three and six weeks of winter break – are suffering from a long season and a cumulative fatigue. Their ability to recover will be impaired.”

Obviously a large number of the South American players are also based in Europe and, in the case of Brazil, a significant portion play in the Premier League, but Davison says that they also benefit psychologically because they are more familiar with the conditions.

This is partly why one of the messages England’s sports medical scientists tried to drum into Roy Hodgson’s squad during their training camp in Portugal was to be “comfortable being uncomfortable”. The players wore extra layers in training and even hats and gloves so that they sweated more than usual.

Even the Germans have suffered. They showed signs of fatigue at the end of their match against Ghana on Thursday and struggled to overcome USA in the final group game in Recife, while coaches and medical staff have questioned Fifa’s unwillingness to allow more drinks breaks.

Before defeat against Uruguay triggered his resignation as Italy coach, Cesare Prandelli had been lobbying hard for time-outs but was ignored by Fifa.

There certainly seems to be a reluctance from the match officials to permit drinks to be passed to players and Fifa have insisted that such breaks can only be allowed when what is known as the ‘Wet Bulb Globe Temperature’ – a measurement which calculates heat stress and factors in temperature, humidity and wind speed – is above 32C. The WBGT did not reach that level during England’s game against Italy, despite the draining conditions in the jungle, although it did in the match between Portugal and USA.

Players from all these teams later complained of suffering from cramps with suggestions that at least one Italian player was also hallucinating, but it is not just Manaus: three American players suffered from cramp against Ghana in Natal. There is also thought to have been more cases of players being sidelined through muscle injuries than at previous World Cups.

Most doctors argue there should not be a post-Manaus hangover, given the extensive recovery programmes put in place for player and the way they are rehydrated, but Davison believes that coaches might also have to be smarter in their substitutions as the tournament goes on. This might involve occasionally changing a defender for a defender and not be afraid that this will be regarded as a negative measure.

“It would be interesting to understand if most of the substitutions across the tournaments have been strikers rather than defenders,” he says. “If so then clearly defenders have been more tired by the end of games and have made mistakes as much as fresher players having capitalised on them.”

Even the ball – the Brazuca, which has been lauded for being truer than the Jabulani was in South Africa four years ago – has been responding differently in the sweltering conditions. The science demands it: hot, humid is the lightest air and will affect its flight.

Local conditions prevail.

Five countries who suffered after Manaus

England Several players cramped badly towards the end of a 2-1 defeat against Italy. Roy Hodgson made no changes for the next game against Uruguay and lost 2-1.

Italy After beating England in the jungle, they slumped 1-0 against Costa Rica with a sluggish display.

Cameroon Crushed by Croatia in Manaus, Cameroon were defeated again – albeit by the hosts Brazil.

Croatia There was a marked contrast between the slick side who dismissed Cameroon 4-0 and the one dispatched 3-1 by Mexico in their next game.

USA Pegged back in a draining Amazonia game against Portugal, 1-0 defeat to Germany followed.

...and one winner

Portugal Four days after the 2-2 draw against USA, Portugal showed little ill effects in defeating Ghana 2-1.